Aquaplane



Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES issasee PATENT OFFICE.

FRED WALLER, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

.AQUAPLANE.

Application filed August 22, 1925. Serial No. 51,766.

behind a motor boat is becoming increasingly popular but there arecertain disadvantages. Aquaplanes as now constructed are unstable and itis diilicult to ride them. If the rider is not skillful, a slightshifting of the weight thereon will cause the plane to dip deeper in thewater on one side, skid, and throw the rider. Furthermore, theaquaplane, as commonly constructed, does not'ofier opportunity for thepractice of stunts and there is relatively little variety in the sportof riding one.

The presentinvention has for an object" to provide an improved aquaplanewhich can be more easily ridden andfurther to makeit possible to do agreater variety of stunts in order to increase the sport of rid- Thenature and objects of the invention will be better understood from adescription of a particular illustrative embodiment of the invention forthe purposes of which de scription reference should be had to theaccompanying drawing'forming a part thereof and in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view indicating the manner of use of aselected embodiment of the invention i c I Figure 2 is a'plan view ofthe embodiment selected for description; I

Figure 3 is. a view in side elevation;

Figure tis a view .in end elevation of the rear end of one ofthe boardsof the device showing a detail;

Figure 5 is a plan view showing mechanism for moving the rudderangularly by I a tiltin movement of the foot, and 50 b the same. p

The aquaplane shown for thepurpose of illustrating the invention isconstructed Figure 6 is a view in side elevation of and arranged toprovide two' supporting boards, or skids, one for each foot, whichboards are connected to permit relative movement of each independentlyof the other. As shown, the boards 5 and 6 are connected at or neartheir forward ends to the bridle 7 {by flexible members such as cords 8.Footpads' 9, consisting of rubber presenting a corrugated surface may beprovided if desired to indicate a suitable position for the feet and toprevent slipplng.

Guide cords 10 are provided to enable the rider to hold himself inupright position. They may conveniently be connected to the boards at ornear their forward ends either directly or through the bridle. As shown,handles 11 are provided, one for each board, and connected from its twoopposite ends by the cords 10 to the respective sides of the board andthe rider niay tilt the board on its longitudinal aXis by pulling"harder on one cord than the other thus causing the board to movesidewise en-- abling the rider to steer either or both boards to rightor left. This being accomplished by merely twisting the handle 11 in thehand. If the board is rigid, then this operation will turn the wholeboard but if the board is more flexible, especially toward its forwardends, then if the foot is held flat the pulling on one of the cords 12will twist the forward portion of the board, thus tending to steertoward the side toward which it is turned.

The forward ends of the boardsare preferably turned up somewhat, asindicated at .15, to avoid any possible tendency of the board to dive orbe drawn under the water.

i In order to prevent lateral skidding of these boards and tostabilizethe same in,

use, I find it advantageous to curve. the rear ends of the boardstransversely to provide a lower concave. surface nearthe end as bestshown in Fig. 4. Preferably also, a rudder 17 is provided at or near therear end of each board to further prevent lateral skidding. and toprovide a more stead operation. Inasmuch as there is a ten ency for theweight of the individual riding on the device to cause the boards tospread apart these rudders may advantageously be turned at a slightangle to the longitudinal axis of the boards, being turned so that theyconverge inwardly. This tends suiliciently to draw the rear ends of theboards together to overcome the natural s )ieading tendency due to theweight of the rider. The rudders are shown as triangular in shape toproi' ide a graceful appearance and are angularly adjustable. it isfound that these rudders may be relatively short compared with the fulllength of the boards.

If desired, instead of making the board perfectly straight with parallelsides, the sides may be curved to provide an outwardly concave surfaceand this surface may be used in steering the plane by tilting the boardSlightly to one side or the other to throw the one or the other curvedsurface into engagement with the water with greater pressure.

It Will. be understood that when the device is in use, as indicated in1, if the board is turned slightly to one side, then the lower edge ofthe board will bear somewhat more forcibly against the water due to theaction of the device in traveling through the water at high speed.

The yoke 7 comprises a spreader-bar and two converging cords to whichthe draft cord is attached.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a mechanism for actuating the rudder bymovement of the foot. As shown, a rod or shaft 17 is mounted rotatablyin brackets on the board. One end of the rod or shaft carries a crankarm engaging with the free end of the rudder and the other end isprovided with a crank arm which extends diagonally to one side andengages a slot in a member connected to be operated by rocking the footforward and back. This rod may be rotated to shift the rudder toone sideor the other.

The device shown can be operated to do various stunts as, for cxan'iple,by spread ing the two boards simultaneously, turning the same outwardlboth transversely and longitudinally.

The foregoing description of a particular embodiment is illustrativemerely and is not intended as defining the limits of the invention.

lVhat I claim is:

1. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected thereto, and moveablevertically relative to each other,

2. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected at their forward ends to thetowin bridle but free to move angularly relative to each other in averticle direction.

3. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected at thei for ard ends to the tw ng bridle but lree to move angular", I we to each other in ahorizontal direction.

fin aciaplane of the character described romprisin, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected to the bridle at their forwardends for universal pivotal movement relative to each other.

An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards and flexible elements connecting theboards to the bridle.

6. An aquaplane of the character described compri ing, in combination, atowing bridle, pair of boards connected thereto, each board beingprovided with a rudder.

7. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected thereto, each board beingprovided with an angularly adjustable rudder.

8. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected thereto, each board beingformed to present a concave lower surface for a portion of its length.

9. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected thereto, each board beingformed to present lateral curved edges.

10. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination,a .towing bridle, a pair of boards connected thereto, each board beingprovided at its rear end on the under side with a rudder extending at anangle to the longitudinal axis of the board.

11. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination,a towing bridle, a pair of boards connected there to, each board beingformed to present outwardly concave edges.

12. An aquaplane of the character clescribed COIDPl'lSlDg, incombination, a towing bridle, a pair of boards connected to be drawnthereby, a guide cord connected to the forward end of one of the boardsand extending to within reach of the rider.

13.An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination, atowing bridle, a pair of boards connected to be drawn thereby, a pair ofguide cords connected to the forward ends of the respective boards.

14. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, in combination,a towing bridle, a pair of boards connected to be drawn thereby, guidecords connected to the opposite edges of each of the boards for tiltingthe boards by pulling upon the cords.

relative thereto and 15.A11 aquaplane of the character describedcomprising, in combination, a toW- in bridle, a pair of flexible boards,and means for twisting said boards.

5 16. An aquaplane of the character described comprising, incombination, a toW- .ing bridle, a pair of flexible boards, cordsconnected. to the forward ends of said boards near the lateral edgesthereof for twisting the forward portions of the boards.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification. this19th day of August, 1925.

FRED WALLER.

